


These Foolish Things

by sniperct



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Lesbian Cassandra (Disney: Tangled), Lesbian Elsa (Disney), Lesbian disasters, Love at First Sight, Singing, Trans Cassandra (Disney: Tangled), Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29967132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sniperct/pseuds/sniperct
Summary: Lonely Cass, a weekly visit to drink at a club, a new act on stage. Most of the acts she saw come in were barely worth remembering. But then a blonde in a sparkling blue dress starts to sing, and Cass becomes enthralled.
Relationships: Cassandra/Elsa (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	These Foolish Things

The air was filled with a thick, hazy smoke as Cassandra wound her way through the club. Up on stage, a cute redhead was doing a sound check on the piano, playing a cheerful tune that was the exact opposite of Cass’s mood and yet despite her own wishes, she found herself tapping her fingers against her hip as she walked. 

She could feel eyes on her and straightened her back; with her blue suit and matching brimmed hat she knew she cut an imposing figure and she liked the confusion that registered on some peoples’ faces as they tried to figure her out. Cass had spent so much of her own life trying to figure herself, so it was kind of like a little game, and she was winning.

The piano trailed off as she took a seat a table near the left side of the stage, drink in hand.

Cass came here often enough, drinking alone and watching whatever act the club had pulled in this week. Most of them amounted to little or less in Cass’s opinion but then she was the picky sort; a whirlwind affair with a Hollywood starlet could certainly alter one’s opinions.

And maybe comparing people to Raps was unfair, to both those people and to Rapunzel herself, but Cass couldn’t really help it.

She was staring down into the swirl of liquid in her glass when the tap tap tapping of heels on the stage drew her attention; a sparkling blue dress, the slit revealing a long, elegant leg and just the hint of a thigh. The woman was tall, almost as tall as Cass was which was a little impressive, and her golden hair hung loosely down her back. Her eyes lingered on that thigh and those hips, before she forced herself to stop oogling. Cass was better than that, she tried to remind herself.

It was the woman’s eyes that undid her. A light, icy blue that glittered like her dress as she leaned against the piano and now Cass took in the whole of her and found herself spiraling down and down and down to the place she’d thought she’d buried. Love at first sight didn’t exist, but Cass wanted to try anyway. 

Then the woman looked in her direction and smiled. Cass sat a little straighter, trying to look more… _something_. Cheeks coloring, the woman bit her beautiful red lip before glancing at her friend on the piano.

Beaming, the red-head started to play, and then the woman opened her mouth to sing. “ _Oh! Will you never let me be? Oh! Will you never set me free? The ties that bound us … Are still around us, there's no escape that I can see and still those little things remain, that bring me happiness or pain…_ ”

Her voice was low and sultry, almost smoky in that way that reminded Cass of the great singers in decades past, belting their hearts out into a speakeasy. The stage she walked on, moving back and forth as she sang, had a sort of timeless quality to it and between the way the lights sparkled on her dress and the sound of her voice, Cassandra found herself enraptured and hypnotized.

“ _You came you saw you conquer'd me_ ,” she sang, her eyes meeting Cass’s. “ _When you did that to me, I knew somehow this had to be_.”

When she looked away, continuing her strut up the stage, she took Cass’s breath with her. Her voice rang through the club, rising and swirling around Cassandra until the only thing that existed in the whole of the universe was this woman.

“ _The sigh of midnight trains in empty stations, silk stockings thrown aside dance invitations_ ,” Elsa’s eyes slid over to Cass again, her lips parting sensuosuly, “ _Oh, how the ghost of you clings! These foolish things remind me of you._ ”

Every word that fell from this woman’s lips, every sigh and note, Cass memorized. The sway of her hips, the gleam of gold that was her hair, the smile whenever she seemed to look Cass’s way were also put to memory. By the time she had finished singing and was taking her bows, Cass’s heart was racing and she was besides herself.

It was an uncomfortable sensation for someone who’d sworn off relationships after the last disaster. She needed to learn her name, talk to her, get to know her. But getting up and rushing backstage would probably get her kicked out at best. And that kind of display wasn’t her style, even as she considered simply sweeping the woman off of her feet in the most dashing manner possible. Cass was more comfortable being a knight protector than some lovestruck puppy but she was definitely feeling a little bit like the latter.

Love was for losers, anyway. So instead, Cass nursed her drink, waiting for the woman to return or some sign that she was leaving. The redhead came out, and Cass searched to see if her bombshell of a friend was going to follow. She swallowed her disappointment when that didn’t happen, ignoring the raised eyebrow the woman tossed her way as she played the piano. 

When it became clear that she would be seeing no more of the blonde woman, Cass sighed and finished her drink. She was about halfway to the exit when someone tapped at her elbow.

“Scuse me.

Cass turned and looked down into the bright green eyes of the pianist, “Uh can I help you?”

“Actually? Yes. Yes, you can definitely help me.”

“All right.”

Grinning, the woman held out her hands, “I’m Anna.”

“Cass.” Anna had a strong, firm grip and there was something mischievous in her eyes that reminded Cass of Rapunzel. Cass let herself be led, “Have you played piano very long? You’re really good.”

“Thanks. I’ve been playing since I was little, and my sister and I have performed together for years.”

That explained a few things, and Cass nodded, “I believe it, you two have a sort of rhythm together.” She winced, realizing how stupid that had sounded.

But Anna only grinned and nodded energetically, “Okay we’re almost there.”

“What exactly am I helping with?”

“Oh, I’m meeting my boyfriend for dinner and I need someone to take my sister home.”

A nearby door opened and the blonde from the stage stepped out. She’d pulled her hair into a french braid and wore a navy blouse over a long flowing skirt of a similar shade. Even like this, with most of her make-up scrubbed off and in casual wear, she was breathtaking.

“Elsa! Good I’m glad I caught you.” Anna grabbed her arm, “I’ve got to meet Kristoff so Cass here volunteered to take you home.”

“Wait, what?” Both Cass and Elsa spoke simultaneously, and Cass blinked at her as a blush rose to Elsa’s cheeks.

Anna was quick to kiss Elsa on the cheek before dancing out of reach and then out of sight down the hall. Cass rubbed at her face then turned back to Elsa, “She didn’t even ask me if I had a car or anything.”

“Do you?” Elsa asked.

“I’ve got a motorcycle if that’s all right with you.”

Elsa’s throat bobbed, “Yes! I mean, that’s perfectly fine.” 

The urge to sweep Elsa off of her feet returned and Cass ignored it. But that didn’t stop her from offering her arm, “Ready to go?”

“Uhm. Yes.” Elsa looped her arm through Cass’s, resting her other hand on Cass’s bicep. Her throat bobbed again and Cass felt just the _smallest_ pressure from Elsa’s fingers.

_Oh._ Okay. Maybe, just _maybe_ she hadn’t been imagining things and she had drawn Elsa’s attention while she’d sung. What she’d do with this knowledge was beyond her at the moment, but with Elsa pressed against her side she was in no mood to rush outside and to her bike.

Play it cool, Cass. “You were _amazing_ up there. Your voice is just… _wow_.” Oh god, that’s so not cool.

Face pink, Elsa glanced away from Cass, “Thank you. I don’t think I’ve heard that one before. Wow, huh?”

“Yeah. Wow.” Cass focused straight ahead, mind working over time, “I’m not too good with words, not like that. But I think someone could write whole poems about it.”

Elsa glanced at her, “Oh I like this, keep going.”

Cass laughed, “Like something ethereal, out of ancient myth.” She didn’t want to sound like a complete nerd, but she remembered something she’d read after Varian had pestered her into it, “If the world was created from song, you surely had a part in it.”

“I feel like music is the heartbeat of the world’s soul,” Elsa replied, a finger trailing a lazy circle on Cass’s upper arm. “When I sing, I’m in tune with it, a part of it. Everything else fades away. Off stage, I can be a bit of a mess, but on stage? There’s only me. Does that make any sense?”

“It makes perfect sense,” Cass assured her, thinking that it in fact was a beautiful outlook. 

Seemingly satisfied with that, Elsa leaned her head against Cass’s shoulder for the rest of the walk to the motorcycle. She stared at it once they arrived, standing still until Cass had sat down.

“It’s okay,” Cass assured her, holding out an extra helmet. “Just get behind me and hold on.”

Nodding, Elsa settled behind her, adjusting her skirts so they didn’t get caught in the wheel. Then she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Cass. For just a half a heartbeat, Cass let herself enjoy how close this beautiful woman was, and then she started the bike. But she didn’t take off yet. Instead, she turned around and looked at Elsa, who was somehow even cuter with the helmet on, “Do you want to get dinner?”

Elsa blinked at her, then her lips spread into a smile, “I’d love to.”

Maybe she’d get hurt again, but it was worth trying, wasn’t it?

“All right!” Cass turned back and gunned the motor, thinking that no matter what happened, that club would always remind her of Elsa.


End file.
